Retrovibe swirl transformation

[BassApprentice]

Hello all,


A while ago (April) I picked this up from a FB group for a bargain price. It's progressed a fair bit since I have got it but I thought I would start a build diary to show you all the process Safe to say the previous owner hadn't done a great job refinishing. With the addition of using superglue to fill the frets to make it 'fretless' I had a bit of work to do.

My plan is to strip it down and swirl paint it black and gold....This could go one of two ways....

Edited August 19, 2016 by BassApprentice

[BassApprentice]

So first off was sorting out the superglue filled neck.

The answer: Acetone.

I used acetone to soften the glue then gently scraped it off the fretboard and profusely oiled the board to stop the acetone drying out the 'board. End of product below

[BassApprentice]

Next stage: Stripping the thick paint.

I know others may have just taken a sander to it but I decided to go for the Nitro Mors route. At times I wish I had sanded it but over all I managed to get nearly all the paint off with one tub of Nitro Mors

[BassApprentice]

And here we have the stripped body

I found out from the original owner that there is some filler on the rear of the body which the Nitro Mors decided to melt...It also melted some of the binding on the body

Next up: Sanding, filling and priming for dipping!

Edited August 19, 2016 by BassApprentice

[Dave Vader]

This looks like it should be good. Nitromors stripping is always painful, and usually ends in sanding anyway IME.

Who fills the fretgaps with superglue rather than pulling the frets? Sounds more difficult to my mind.

Good luck, looking forward to seeing the finished article.

[CaptainBlackarm16]

[quote name='Meddle' timestamp='1472333538' post='3120463']


I did! I didn't do this as fretless conversion, I simply did it to copy the thin, hard finish that Rickenbacker use on their fretboards. I've done it before, and it does work. I built up thin layers of superglue, then simply leveled and polished. A bit of a hassle on higher frets, but not impossible.
[/quote]

Looks more like a mess to me! That's why they use lacquer!

[CaptainBlackarm16]

[quote name='BassApprentice' timestamp='1471595455' post='3114221']
And here we have the stripped body

I found out from the original owner that there is some filler on the rear of the body which the Nitro Mors decided to melt...It also melted some of the binding on the body

Next up: Sanding, filling and priming for dipping!
[/quote]

Great job so far, excited to see the updates!

[BassApprentice]

Sorry this has been so quiet, as I'm sure many of you know life just gets in the way.

I have a plan to make it a single pickup and put a Nordstrand Bigman in the bridge position, but I'm not sure it's close enough to the bridge to get a good Musicman growl. Anyone got a Bigman in their bass or proivde a recommendation for a MM style pickup in this location?

Cheers

[DarkHeart]

I have a bigman in my Alpher see my avi, awesome pickup were you adding a preamp as well?

[BassApprentice]

[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1475805065' post='3148911']
I have a bigman in my Alpher see my avi, awesome pickup were you adding a preamp as well?
[/quote]

That's a real looker!!

If it's not too much hassle could you tell me how far the pickup is from the bridge? It looks to be in a similar position as the routing on this body.

Yup, I think a preamp is pretty much essential for this pickup. Would probably be a Nordy just for consistency...What do you have in yours?

[DarkHeart]

Not a problem, from the front of the bridge to back of the pickup is approximately 53mm and its a Nordstrand B3 preamp.